subs. phr. (old).—A nonconformist: see quots. 1696 and 1823.
c. 1696. B. E., A New Dictionary of the Canting Crew, s.v. NON-CON, one that don’t conform to the Church of England.
c. 1707. D’URFEY, Wit and Mirth; or Pills to Purge Melancholy (1707), ii. 226. The Niece of a Canting, Bleer-Ey’d NON-CON.
d. 1737. M. GREEN, The Seeker.
| Said a formal NON-CON, (whose rich stock of grace | |
| Lies forward expos’d in shop-window of face,) | |
| Ah! pity your soul: come, be of our sect: | |
| For then you are safe, and may plead you’re elect. |
1785. GROSE, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.
1823. BADCOCK (‘Jon Bee’), Dictionary of the Turf, etc., s.v. NONCONFORMIST—a discontented person, who will think and act differently from all others.
1843. H. C. ROBINSON, in Diary, 7 April, ii. 239 (3rd ed. 1872). So it is that extremes meet, and that we NON-CONS are in accord with the High Church divines.
